Maha MH C808M Charger

[SilverFox]

Hello Ares,

Check out this thread.

Tom

[servaas]

Silverfox,

Thank you for the information! That really helps out since I am expecting mine to arrive tomorrow. So the 800s is exactly the same as the 801D except for the slower charge rate, right? Thanks again!

Two other (small) differences:

Power supply
The 801D has a commercial grade din power connector and an inline brick type power supply.
Thye 800S has a consumer style round connector (same style as 401FS/9000) and a wallwart power supply.

Colour
The 801D is black
The 800S is silver

[Phlack]

I got myself some LSDs, finally.

Should I do a conditioning cycle on these?

-Mike

[servaas]

I got myself some LSDs, finally.

Should I do a conditioning cycle on these?

-Mike

Yes, like normal discharge batteries, they benefit from a few cycles before use, and heir capacity will come up slightly over the first few charges.

Jeff
-----------------
Servaas Products - Australian Distributor for Maha Powerex - The worlds best AA battery chargers.
http://servaas.com.au
Visit us at the PMA Australia Exhibition in Brisbane, May 30-June 1, Stand 217. http://www.pmaaustralia.com.au

[hank]

Tangential question if I may.
Maha MH-C777, S/N 7718519, had it for years for ham radio battery packs.
Always worked fine. Recently its power supply died; it's a "MKD-48180800 18V DC 800mA"
I tried emailing Maha USA a month or two ago asking where to get a replacement. No answer.
Charger says "DC 12-18V input" positive center.

What do I look for to replace this?

[Black Rose]

I tried emailing Maha USA a month or two ago asking where to get a replacement. No answer.

I contacted them about a month ago for something different. Also no answer.

[NA8]

Recently its power supply died; it's a "MKD-48180800 18V DC 800mA"

Charger says "DC 12-18V input" positive center.

What do I look for to replace this?

If nothing else, you can always use a little bench type DC power supply. 0-20 volts 0-1 amp minimum would work for you. I'd try it at about 12-15 volts.

I'd cut off the charger wire about halfway and reuse the connector. You can check if the wire was the only problem by measuring the voltage out of the old supply. If there's voltage there still, the connector just broke a wire.

[zband]

Could someone answer this question for me- I have a MAHA 777plus II aka "the battery cooker". If my understanding is correct, it cooks batteries because the charging current 850mAh (ultimately destroying batteries cause it wouldn't shut off). Needless to say I need another charger and because of this, I am leery of maha products. Whats different about 808m vs 777plus II when it comes to battery charging algorithms? I mean even on the soft charge setting the 808 is pumping more than my 777plus - so wouldn't I expect more heat?

Sorry I'm not an electrically blessed....

[Sub_Umbra]

The 808 is fast. IIRC it charges at up to 2A(!) but every time I feel the cells they're cool. I charge AAs, Cs and Ds with mine all the time. The 808 is a bit quirky but I don't recall ever hearing anyone complain about it cooking cells.

[zband]

I just pick one of these units up. Compared to my maha 777 plus II recharger the AAs charged very quickly (this was on the soft cycle) and best part is they only reached a 109F!

I couldn't even hold the same batteries from 777. The AA and AAA's all charged to 1.46 volts at the end.

I conditioned 2 AAA energizer cells on soft mode- there was no frozen display and the batteries remained cool. It just took about 8 hours for the whole condtion - charge cycle!

So far so good.

Now if Maha could make a similar charger (like the 808) for Li-Ion cells I would be first in line with cash...I wonder if they read these forums.

[zband]

So far I am pleased with the 808. Batteries stay (relatively ) cool.

But one thing I am miffed about, Checking the status of a charged accupower d-cell (charged about a week before ) on the ZTS test showed 100%, putting them into the 808 the D's started charging and the 808's displayed started from 20%-40% level. Not sure why- even though they go to "done " in about 1 hour on a soft charge....hmmm

[mikevelarde]

hello everyone:

I'm noob here at CPF, I had been lurking around for sometime and learn a lot from so many CPF guru here. I just purchase a 808M a month ago from a photoshop here in Manila(they distribute the Maha charger in the Philippines). and these charger perform very well until the the 11th of August. I use the charger to condition and charge my AA,AAA C and D cell, of both nicad and inmh chemistry.

When I plug in the charger on the 11th, I saw little smoke came out of bay no.8 of the charger near the DIN 1 connector, then the LCD display start blinking all the time with a done display on bay no. 8(without any battery in the charger) , I try to unplug and plug the charger again after a few minute, the same thing happens. (blinking LCD display and done on bay no. 8 )

I bring the charger to the photoshop, and they replace the defective one with a brand new unit . I hope these unit will last!!


mikevelarde

[chewy78]

hello everyone:

I'm noob here at CPF, I had been lurking around for sometime and learn a lot from so many CPF guru here. I just purchase a 808M a month ago from a photoshop here in Manila(they distribute the Maha charger in the Philippines). and these charger perform very well until the the 11th of August. I use the charger to condition and charge my AA,AAA C and D cell, of both nicad and inmh chemistry.

When I plug in the charger on the 11th, I saw little smoke came out of bay no.8 of the charger near the DIN 1 connector, then the LCD display start blinking all the time with a done display on bay no. 8(without any battery in the charger) , I try to unplug and plug the charger again after a few minute, the same thing happens. (blinking LCD display and done on bay no. 8 )

I bring the charger to the photo shop, and they replace the defective one with a brand new unit . I hope these unit will last!!


mikevelarde

That's the first time i heard of that happening. I have that same charger, and it works flawlessly time in and time out. Must of been a defective unit. Maybe the employee who assembled it had a bad day.

[Turbo DV8]

The C9000 applies a two hour top-off charge at 100 mA after the display says "Done." Does the C808 charger also apply a "top-off" charge after the display says "Done"? Or does done mean done?

[zband]

Paging Silverfox....

[john2551]

&/or paging William Cheuh of Maha Corp.

[mikevelarde]

I recently purchased about a dozen of the powerex 11,000 mah D cell and proceed to condition 8 of them in the 808. after 5 days. the 808 seems to get stuck at the discharge cycle with 1 bar blinking on all slots without going into the final charging cycle. The 808 seems to be overwhelm by the capacity of the D cell and their algorithm get mixed-up because of the time needed to discharge those D-cells????

Paging SilverFox or William Chueh

[chewy78]

Paging SilverFox of William Chueh[/quote]

those are two different people lol

[Sub_Umbra]

Paging SilverFox or William Chueh

those are two different people lol

He knows that. He mentioned both as they both likely have a good answer.

[rhymemaze]

I recently purchased about a dozen of the powerex 11,000 mah D cell and proceed to condition 8 of them in the 808. after 5 days. the 808 seems to get stuck at the discharge cycle with 1 bar blinking on all slots without going into the final charging cycle. The 808 seems to be overwhelm by the capacity of the D cell and their algorithm get mixed-up because of the time needed to discharge those D-cells????

Does anyone else have trouble or other quirks with the D cells in the 808? I guess these NiMh chargers aren't like LCD tv's (example) getting updated/revised each year?

[Sub_Umbra]

I recently purchased about a dozen of the powerex 11,000 mah D cell and proceed to condition 8 of them in the 808. after 5 days. the 808 seems to get stuck at the discharge cycle with 1 bar blinking on all slots without going into the final charging cycle. The 808 seems to be overwhelm by the capacity of the D cell and their algorithm get mixed-up because of the time needed to discharge those D-cells????

Paging SilverFox or William Chueh

The 808 is a quirky charger. I'd just stop the discharge and recharge the cells and try another conditioning cycle after the cells have a couple of cycles on them. Also, a UPS with a filtered power supply may reduce some of the 808's eratic behavior in some locations. For a charger often touted as 'Professional' it seems somewhat intolerant of dirty AC and it goes into amnesia if it loses power for even a half second. Either of these faults would seem to pretty much rule it out for professional use in most Third World countries -- and at least a few First World cities like New Orleans.

[Turbo DV8]

...the 808 seems to get stuck at the discharge cycle with 1 bar blinking on all slots without going into the final charging cycle.

I wonder if this response by William Chueh in the C9000 FAQ thread, is applicable to the 808?

We've come across a lot of AAA batteries (well-known and off brand, new and old) that have DC resistances exceeding 0.3 ohm. Their open circuit voltage, measured between discharge pulses, actually never reach the cutoff and the discharge continues until the MOSFET is unable to draw current (due to insufficient differential voltage). The under-load voltage will already be 0.8V but the open circuit voltage will still be above the discharge cutoff.As a result, the discharge never ends!

I take this to mean that if the 808 measures the open circuit voltage between discharge pulses (unlike the C9000), that the 808 could also fail to terminate discharge.

[barkingmad]

I contacted them about a month ago for something different. Also no answer.

Ditto... resent the email - still nothing - not encouraging!

[Swedpat]

I recently purchased the Maha MH C808M charger. LARGE charger in comparison to my former AA chargers...

Great to charge all batteries I need from AAA to D in the same charger. The first charging was 8 12000mAh D batteries. They were fully charged at ca 4,5 hours. 8 AA were then charged at less than 1,5 hours, didn't notice exactly.

Regards, Patric

[Flea Bag]

I recently purchased about a dozen of the powerex 11,000 mah D cell and proceed to condition 8 of them in the 808. after 5 days. the 808 seems to get stuck at the discharge cycle with 1 bar blinking on all slots without going into the final charging cycle. The 808 seems to be overwhelm by the capacity of the D cell and their algorithm get mixed-up because of the time needed to discharge those D-cells????

Paging SilverFox or William Chueh

I think I have the same brand and capacity D cells as you though I only use 4 at a time. My 808M seems to do okay with them and other types or sizes of NiMH but sometimes, it 'crashes' during the discharge phase of conditioning. The 808M seems much more reliable for charging than for discharging.

As mentioned somewhere earlier in this thread, the 808M is particularly sensitive to 'crashes' during the discharge cycle. This seems true for all sizes and capacities of my batteries (Sanyo AAA, AA & Powerex D). For example, if you twist the batteries in their charging slot, knock the charger accidentally or are a bit rough with inserting new cells while other cells are still discharging, then the charger has a higher chance of crashing and staying in the discharge phase indefinitely. This could be related to what another member said about the 808M being sensitive to power disruptions.

[ptolemy]

I just picked this one up. I wanted to be able to charge all my bateries in One, so it'll replace bc-900 and some other I have.

Doing my first reconditioning right now. One thing I am missing is the ability to actual capasity of the batteries.

Seems like after it charges it fully, discharges, recharges it would be simple to keep an eye on it?

That's one thing I am missing and I find it important, for with so many different non-branded batteries coming from the asian market via EBay sellers are fraction of the price, It would be nice to find the studs and the duds

Cheers!

p.s is there a charger that does aa/aaa/c/d's and can to soft charge/discharge/analyze capacity (primarly c and d's cause I have eneloops aa/aaa and chances are they are exact mah as they say)?

[Geogecko]

Just ordered one of these. I asked Maha about a year or so ago, if they planned on making a AAA, AA, C, & D version of the C9000, and never got a response. I asked the same question a week or two ago, and never got a response either.

They will probably come out with one tomorrow, which is when I expect my C808M to show up. I'm excited to be able to charge C's now, as many of my daughter's and son's toys use them, and at $5 a 4 pack, it is getting rather expensive to buy batteries after batteries.

So, it still seems like people like this charger, from what I can tell. There were some early reports of some people having some heat problems, but I haven't seen any recently. Hopefully, this will be a good charger for many years to come.

[servaas]

Just ordered one of these. I asked Maha about a year or so ago, if they planned on making a AAA, AA, C, & D version of the C9000, and never got a response.

I asked our account manager about this last year also, and MAHA do not have an intention to develop an 8 cell version of the 9000.

The tooling and development costs of a new product are very high, and selling 100,000+ of such a charger may take 10+ years, so it would take too long to recover the investment.

Being able to analyze more than 4 AA batteries can be achieved with a second MH-C9000. Sales of C and D batteries are a small % of AA volumes, so adding analyzer functionality to the MH-C808M would be catering to a niche within a niche, so I don't see that being developed either.

[Geogecko]

I can see where you are coming from. I should have clarified where I was coming from, I guess. I meant just a 4 cell version of the C9000, that could also charge C and D cell batteries. Seems like the only cost would be in packaging, for a new mold for the plastic housing. The electronics seem to be there to support C and D charging (the C9000 supports up to 20,000mAh capacity, if I read correctly), so I would think the only changes electrically, may be a firmware revision.

That being said, since they already have an 8 cell charger without this funcionallity, it would cut into it's sales. Granted, not everyone is a battery junkie, so if they just priced it right (higher than the C808M), then only those interested in the added capabilities would buy it.

The low quantity of the larger cell useage probably also explains why Sayno does not make the Eneloop in anything other than AAA or AA.

I guess we just have to live with the C808M for larger cells.

[Turbo DV8]

I meant just a 4 cell version of the C9000, that could also charge C and D cell batteries... I guess we just have to live with the C808M for larger cells.

Which is sort of too bad, because at $10-$13 a pop for a NiMH D cell, it would seem most crucial to monitor and match those cells compared to a $2.50-$3.50 NiMH AA cell. I think they have marked up the price of the 808 so unreasonably high, and the C9000 not too far below it, that they have sort of locked themselves out of any prospect of finding a spot in their line up between the two where even a 4D cell "C9000" could be profitable. Mention was made that the market for D-cell chargers was relatively small, but likewise the market for 8-cell chargers is relatively small also, yet Maha makes one. So, what's Maha to do? Invest the $$$ to make a 4-cell AAA-AA-C-D "C9000" and instantly obsolete the AAA-AA C9000, just to attract a relatively few C & D users? Or make a C-D only C9000 and, as was mentioned, sell to a niche within a niche? It's not that there isn't a market for a 4-cell AAA-AA-C-D analyzer, I think it's just that they can't find any way to massage it into their charger line up and be profitable.

Someone mentioned that a 4 D-cell C9000 would require a huge power supply, because if it were to charge in the purportedly desireable range of 0.5C range, the power supply would have to be able to deliver 20-24 amps. Double that for an 8-cell version. Yet the 808 charges 8 D-cells at only about 1/6C, yet terminates just fine. So, their 4 D-cell C9000 could charge at a very comfortable 1/3C with the same power supply, and over 0.5C for C-cells. I would think the bigger problem of making a D-cell analyzer would be in dissipating the heat generated by discharging 4 D-cells at the discharge currents which "niche users" might be requiring. Discharging, say, four 12 Ah D-cells at 0.5C would equate to about 30 watts of heat dissipation. At the very least, this would require a large area (bulky charger) and enough ventilation openings to rival a block of Swiss cheese. More realistically, it would require the use of active cooling. Oh well, I am just musing. Dreaming of such a D-cell analyzer is still free, and available today!